FAITH MATTERS: A nightmare for dreamers

Saturday

Sep 16, 2017 at 12:01 AM

Rev. Daniel Payne

Children should not be punished for the misdeeds of their parents. This is an ethical cornerstone for most cultures around the world. On Sept. 5, the Trump administration turned this principle on its head, holding nearly 800,000 children responsible for their parents’ immigration offenses. DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), fashioned in June 2012 by the Obama administration to provide renewable two-year deportation deferment and work permit eligibility for the children of some illegal immigrants, has been rescinded with a six-month delay.

DACA was not a provision for amnesty. It was not a far-reaching effort to acquiesce on illegal immigration. It was specific to certain children of illegal immigrants, and it included strict measures these children were expected to follow. It was not accessible to anyone with felonies or serious misdemeanors on their records. In short, it was not a program for “bad hombres.” As an aside, immigrants (legal and illegal) commit fewer crimes than native-born Americans.*

DACA has produced virtually no damaging effects on the American economy and society. In fact, DACA has been shown to have net positive effects, especially in terms of economy, health, and society. Conversely, the rescission of DACA is likely to adversely affect the larger American economy. Many DACA recipients are now university and graduate students, business owners, home owners, military personnel, and overall contributing members in all areas of society. Removing them from their studies, their jobs, and their families and homes will inevitably cause economic and societal damage.

But none of these negative effects are the primary problem with Trump’s decision to rescind the program. In my view, there are two equally troublesome problems in overturning DACA – one a problem in Trump’s given reasoning for rescission of DACA, and one a problem of basic unethical action.

Since the beginning of his campaign for the presidency, Trump has consistently waved the “law and order” flag. His messages on DACA have been inconsistent over the years, sometimes supporting it and sometimes condemning it, but his diatribes on illegal immigration had been focused on criminals until September 5. Attorney General Jeff Sessions articulated the White House party line when, in his press conference last week, he reiterated the legal reasoning for DACA rescission. According to the current administration, Obama acted unconstitutionally in instituting DACA by executive order. Therefore, the Trump administration ended it and gave a six-month legislative ultimatum to Congress.

But Trump’s actions betray his words. Within two months of taking the presidential helm, Trump issued executive orders on funding limitations for states in which cities continue offering sanctuary to illegal immigrants. That order violated at least two Supreme Court cases: Printz vs. United States (states cannot be required to impose federal law) and Pennhurst State School and Hospital vs. Halderman (only Congress can enact new conditions on federal endowments to states). So constitutionality doesn't seem to be of primary concern to the Trump administration.

Besides Trump’s prolific production of executive orders, his pardon of Sheriff Joe Arpaio – who consistently tread immigrant civil rights under foot and was convicted of contempt of court – plainly shows that “law and order” is just a cover for Trump to play to the basest of his xenophobic base. It’s not about law and order. It’s about appeasement of a small but vocal minority responsible for Trump’s election.

But I want to return to the what I wrote at the start. Children should not be punished for the misdeeds of their parents. Whatever one thinks of illegal immigration, it takes a special kind of sadism to enact punitive measures towards those who came to this country when they were just small children, and through no will of their own. We are not only talking about abstract numbers. We are talking about breathing, living human beings who’ve done nothing wrong and everything right. To punish them is an astonishing perversion of justice.

That each individual is responsible for his or her own “sins” is a cornerstone of Western ethics and law. As the author of Deuteronomy 24:16 writes, “Fathers shall not be put to death because of their children, nor shall children be put to death because of their fathers. Each one shall be put to death for his own sin.”

Despite the angst and trauma the rescission of DACA is causing the so-called Dreamers, there may be a silver lining to this debacle. At least, I hope there is. A day after Trump issued his legislative ultimatum to Congress, he tweeted that if Congress doesn’t come up with legislation to solve DACA, he will “revisit it.” Nobody really knows what this means, but I hope it displays an inkling of humanity in the heart of our president. One can dream.

The Rev. Daniel Payne is an ordained minister with the Progressive Christian Alliance and director of religious education and community outreach at Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church in Harvard, Massachusetts. He is the author of “From Faith to Freedom: A Gay Man’s Escape From Christian Fundamentalism,” which will be published in the fall of 2017 by Apocryphile Press.. He may be reached at syndicatedcolumn@gmail.com.

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